Hope in the Face of Disability

For those who joined us at Westgate Church this morning, I began the sermon on Matthew 8:1-17 by telling a little about my longtime friend, Steve Allen, and his family’s experience with disability.

When their firstborn, Amelia, was about three or four months old, she was diagnosed with Leukemia. Four rounds of chemo killed the cancer; she is still in remission today. But during that fourth round a virus settled in her brain and destroyed Steve and his wife Jen’s dreams of a so-called ‘normal’ life. Amelia’s brain damage was severe. She is a beautiful six-year-old today, but her life is not like most children. She’s confined to a wheel chair. She can communicate, but not with her mouth or her hands, but with her eyes—the direction she looks.

I’ve shared before about the encouragement Steve, Jen, Amelia, and Miles have been to my life. To learn more about their story of trusting God in the face of disability, I encourage you to watch this video about their story.